How to Explain Reason for Job Change (With Examples)

Interview Preparation Management
#1

Most job interviews include a question on why you are looking for a job change. You may also need to explain the reason for leaving your job at the time of filling out a job application or resigning from your current job. Preparing beforehand helps you give a clear and concise answer and assists your employer to understand your future aspirations. In this article, we discuss several ways to answer this uncomfortable question on job change and also give some tips and examples to help you understand an interviewer’s perspective on job change.

  • Whether you are impulsive or responsible: Employers want to know if you left your job for the right reason. For example, if you left your previous job abruptly to pursue your hobby, employers may hesitate to hire you for a position that requires higher levels of responsibility and maturity. On the other hand, if you quit your job because you outgrew your role and you were underutilised, it indicates your interest in taking up higher responsibilities and challenges. Interviewers may also try to assess whether you were really underutilised.
  • Whether you left on your own: An interviewer would like to ascertain whether you left your job out of your own free will or your employer asked you to leave. If it’s a case of forced resignation, an interviewer would like to make sure whether it was because of any disciplinary action, underperformance, or due to some other circumstances like cost cutting, merger, organisational restructuring or others.
  • Whether you have good relations with your former employer: Another reason for asking the question ‘why are you looking for a job change?’ is to find out whether you still have good relations with your former employer. If you maintained a good relationship with your former employer and are on talking terms with them, it may reflect positively on your professionalism, attitude and interpersonal skills. On the contrary, if you have included your employer in your references, it is bound to leave a positive impression on the interviewer.